


Eligible and Illegible

by dont-tell-them-i-write-phan (QueenBoudicatheGreat)



Series: The Great Tumblr Migration [4]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:28:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22840255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenBoudicatheGreat/pseuds/dont-tell-them-i-write-phan
Summary: In a world where soul mates are identified when their first thoughts about you appear in real time, radio personality Phil Lester knows that there’s more to life than finding your soulmate. However, when he discovers that he just missed meeting them in the tube, his tune changes a bit. Phil believes in fate, but does his soulmate?
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Series: The Great Tumblr Migration [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1641895
Comments: 4
Kudos: 49





	Eligible and Illegible

“So, are you going to tell me about it, or are we going to ignore the dopey smile on your face?” Phil asked casually, swaying with the motion of the tube and tapping furiously at his phone. He was almost at a new highscore, and nothing would distract him. “I’m surprised you managed to get anything done at work today with your head in the clouds.”

“Her name is Sophie,” PJ sighed, and if he had been anyone else, Phil would have accused him of gushing. “I met her this weekend at that film festival.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, she’s my soulmate.”

Phil jerked his gaze up and stared open mouthed at PJ. He distantly heard his phone let out a defeated trumpet sound as his character died. “You’re joking.”

PJ grinned and held up the back of his hand. There in delicate cursive were the words _Oh my gosh, he’s the guy who did that film about the tiny planets; I should go say hello._ “Yeah, I was at the mixer they held and she came up to me and when I waved at her, I saw I had this written on my hand.”

“Lucky yours was so easy to spot,” Phil said. His own parents had their soulmate identifying marks, but not each other’s. As the marks were on their backs, neither had noticed they had met their soulmate that day until they got home. They had, of course, looked for their soulmates, but eventually they gave up and wound up finding each other. They always claimed that Fate did step in to bring them together, and Phil genuinely believed it.

“Even if it hadn’t, it wouldn’t have been hard to find her,” PJ shrugged. “Between all the websites solely dedicated to finding missed connections and the fact that I would have had access to the guest list means I would have found her by the end of the week.”

“Yeah. Imagine having a missed connection on the tube or just on the street,” Phil shuddered. “You wouldn’t even know for sure if they were from England, much less London. You’d probably never find them.”

“The world works in mysterious ways,” PJ shrugged. “If the universe truly wants you to be with a certain person, it will put you together. Anyway, this is my stop; I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Oh, hey!” Phil said, pulling out his wallet and handing over a couple pound notes. “Can you stop by that bakery on your way in and get me one of those red velvet cupcakes? I love those things.”

PJ laughed and pocketed the money. “Yeah, all right, I’ll get you one. I’m surprised you haven’t found your soulmate in one of those cupcakes yet.”

Phil grinned sheepishly and shrugged. “I can’t help they’re so good. It’s not _my_ fault.”

“You’re a menace, you know that?” PJ shook his head. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Phil.”

“Bye, PJ! Don’t forget my cupcake!”

PJ rolled his eyes, but he was swept up in the herd leaving the car before he could say anything. Phil shoved his wallet in his pocket and pulled out his phone. He frowned when he saw that he was less than 100 points from breaking his record, and started tapping away again. About 30 seconds in, he was distracted by a sudden itch on his bicep, and silently cursed the cold weather that put the puffy coat between his fingers and skin. He ignored it and went back to tapping.

A few more sad trumpets later, Phil beat his score right as the tube screeched to a halt at his stop. He pocketed his phone, and disembarked, happy to note that the crowd at his stop was rather thin. He wasn’t fond of crowds in any situation, but he’d moved less than a month ago, and still got turned around when trying to figure out which escalators he needed to take.

A hand clasped his shoulder and Phil whirled around to see a man with curly brown hair panting and Phil was sure this was going to be the last thing he ever saw. The man took a deep breath, and reached for something in his pocket. _Oh god, please don’t be a murderer, I’m too young to die._ Phil opened his mouth to scream for help, but the man just held out a familiar looking Astro Boy wallet and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. “You, er, dropped this.”

Phil blinked for a moment and took his wallet. “Oh, uh, thanks.”

The man smiled, and Phil noticed that when he did, his eyes got sparkly. “All right, I’ve got to get back on that car before it leaves again. Bye, mate!” And then he turned and ran off.

Phil let a little smile linger on his lips as he waved goodbye to someone he knew couldn’t see him. He gently shook his head, and refocused on the task at hand: That is, getting home. He huddles deeper into his coat once he hits the street, and considers texting PJ about his wallet returning vigilante, but shrugs it off. It wasn’t like he was ever going to see him again. Instead, he goes home, scratches Thor between her ears, makes himself a pot of coffee, and sits down at his computer to prepare for tomorrow’s radio show.

He alternates between working, browsing Tumblr, and looking at cat videos until late in the night, only stopping to scarf down some leftover Chinese takeaway for dinner. When his phone buzzes to advise him that it’s bed time, he yawns and stretches his arms above his head. He closes his windows, gently nudges Thor with his foot and muttered, “Come on, Thor, it’s bedtime.” Thor got up from where she was sleeping under the desk, stretched, and scurried to Phil’s room and up her little badger stairs to his bed. Phil followed behind her, squirming out of his jumper to get into some comfier sleep clothes.

He was passing a mirror hanging in the hall when he saw it out of the corner of his eye. He then choked on air and quickly backpedaled to get a better look. Still there. He rubbed his eyes and checked again. Still there. He pinched himself to make sure he hadn’t fallen asleep at his desk. Still there. He stood there mouth agape for a solid minute before simply sighing out, “Well, fuck.”

Still there.

There, wrapped around his bicep in almost illegible scrawl, were the words, _I wonder if that guy realizes he dropped his wallet._

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Phil was very nervous on the tube to work the next day. He was subconsciously rubbing the place on his arm where his soulmark was and nervously counting down the stops until he got to PJ’s. He was also trying to covertly look around the car to see if he could recognize anyone from yesterday. He had a feeling it was the man who had returned his wallet, but truthfully, it could have been anyone. He knew it had to have been on the tube, though, as he definitely hadn’t had it yesterday morning and he miraculously only dropped his wallet once. However, he didn’t recognize anyone, and no one seemed to be furtively looking around like he was.

When the train finally ground to a halt at PJ’s stop, Phil was right by the door to grab his friend and drag him to a less populated corner. “Calm down, mate!” PJ laughed. “I know you’re eager for your cupcake, but this is ridiculous.”

Phil furrowed his brows. “Cupcake? What do you–” He glanced down and saw the blue and white striped pastry box in PJ’s hands. “Oh, right! I asked you to buy me a cupcake yesterday.”

PJ frowned with growing concern. “If this isn’t about the cupcake, what is it?”

“I met my soulmate yesterday.”

PJ’s worried frown quickly bloomed into a look of delight. “That’s _brilliant_! What are they like? Where did you–”

“It’s really not brilliant.”

PJ cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean it’s not brilliant?” A look of horrified understanding dawned over his features. “You didn’t notice, did you?”

Phil shook his head. “It’s on my upper arm, and seeing as I’ve been wearing long sleeves, I didn’t notice until I got home and took off my shirt for bed.”

“Do you at least have some idea who it might be?” PJ asked sympathetically.

Phil shrugged. “I think it might be this one guy who returned my wallet to me because my soulmate was apparently thinking about how I dropped my wallet, but there’s no real way to be sure. Could have easily been anyone else who saw me drop it.”

PJ sighed and pulled Phil into a hug, careful not to squish the cupcake. “Cheer up. We’ll get you online and you’ll find them again in no time.”

“That’s assuming they’re gonna go online and that I even saw them enough to have a thought about them,” Phil pointed out. “Plus, what if they’re already married or something?”

“Don’t be like that,” PJ chided. “Where’s the ever-optimistic Phil I know and love? We’ll find them, I promise. You can come over after work and we’ll figure this out together.”

Phil smiled. “Thanks, Peej. You’re the best.”

“Yeah, I know. Now, eat your cupcake and feel better.”

Work passed uneventfully. Well, as uneventfully as any advice radio host’s day can be, meaning he received a call from a woman claiming to have the ability to communicate with chipmunks and that they told her government secrets, and she needed advice on what to do next. Phil had dutifully stifled his laughter and told her to turn the treasonous rodents in to the nearest police station. His producer, Marge, had given him a very unimpressed eyebrow raise, but it was her fault for not screening calls better, so Phil figured he was good. Also, no fewer than four people had requested Christmas songs, and as it was hardly past Halloween, Phil was a little disgusted people were even daring to utter the C-Word.

As promised, PJ had dragged Phil to his house, and started filling out profiles on missed connections sites. An hour and a half later, Phil was less grateful than he had been that morning.

“Okay, tell me about it one more time,” PJ said, typing away. “You were on the tube and we were talking, and after I left, you dropped your wallet?”

“Yes, and then when I got off, that guy chased me down and gave it back,” Phil groaned.

“Okay, can you describe anyone in the car with you?”

“I don’t know. There was they guy who gave me my wallet who had brown hair and brown eyes, the business lady who carries that pink umbrella no matter the weather, and that guy who’s always eating the mustard sandwich when we get on. You were there, you tell me.”

“Anyone else? Did anyone get on after I got off?”

Phil dragged his hand down his face. “Honestly, I was too busy playing on my phone to pay anyone much attention. The only person I really paid attention to was the guy who gave me my wallet back.”

“Okay, one more question: Would you consider yourself more a Mario or Zelda guy?”

“Playwise, more Mario, but I think Zelda is prettier and has a better story– Wait, what does that have to do with anything?” Phil narrowed his eyes at the screen, and PJ frantically tried to minimize the window, but he wasn’t quick enough. “PJ, are you actually signing me up for a geek dating site? Is that what you think of me?”

PJ rolled his eyes, and spun around in his office chair to look at Phil. “First off, I’m just widening our net. I specifically put in your profile that you’ve met your soulmate, but you’re open to meeting new people.”

“PJ,” Phil groaned, stretching the syllables out.

“Second,” PJ plowed on, “even if this wasn’t to find your soulmate, it would be a good idea. You’ve said yourself that you like going on dates because it lets you meet and connect with new people.” Phil just gave him a flat look and PJ sighed. “Fine. Do you want me to delete your profiles?”

“Profiles as in plural?” Phil gaped. “How many have you made?”

PJ shrugged. “Like four. There’s only a couple missed connections sites to make it less likely for you to miss each other.”  
  


Phil let out a frustrated little huff, but said, “Don’t delete them, I guess. I’m not seeking out other people though, just so you know.”

PJ shrugged. “Fine with me. Just so long as you know that it’s an option.”

“Alright, then, budge up. I want to make sure you at least made me interesting on these things.”

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Phil was standing outside of a restaurant, rocking back and forth and checking his phone every few minutes. He hadn’t managed to find his actual soulmate in the week that he’d waited, but he did manage to connect with a lovely lady named Louise, and he was supposed to be meeting her for a date. They were supposed to meet about ten minutes ago, but Louise had called in a flurry and explained that her roommate was running late from a job interview and she needed him home to watch her daughter, Darcy. Phil had assured her he totally understood, and would happily wait for her. What he didn’t tell her was that he wasn’t going to sit down to avoid the potential embarrassment of being sat alone at a table for two all night.

“Phil Lester, what are you doing stood out here in the cold?”

His caution was apparently in vain, for when he turned around, there was Louise, looking like she stepped straight out of a children’s princess book with her sparkly skirt and long pink hair. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he had the decency to at least look sheepish. “I, er, wasn’t sure if you were actually coming,” he said, but with the last syllable pitching up and his hunched shoulders, it came off as a clear question.

Louise just smiled gently and patted him on the cheek with one mittened hand. “I understand. Trust me, we’ve all been there, love.”

Phil gaped at her. “ _You’ve_ been stood up? But you’re like the prettiest lady I’ve ever seen?”

Louise sputtered for a moment before laughing. “Are you trying to butter me up, you cheeky thing?”

Phil blushed and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, but he felt his cheeks split open in a wide smile. “I mean it, I swear. You really are very pretty.”

“A woman could get used to having men like you and Dan around,” Louise teased.

“Who’s Dan?” Phil asked, cocking his head to the side.

“My flatmate,” Louise explained. “He’s the same as you when it comes to endearingly awkward compliments. The both of you are absolute sweethearts.”

Phil smiled, and offered her an arm. “So, dinner?”

Louise looped her arm through his and said, “I believe that would be wonderful.”

And it was. It was wonderful. Louise was as bright and friendly as she was pretty. She and Phil didn’t share a lot of the same interests, but she was passionate when talking about hers and listened carefully when Phil talked about his. She was hilarious, and thought that Phil spouting off animal facts when he got nervous was adorable. She was kind and funny and smart and everything Phil could ever hope for in a girlfriend, but there was something just… _off_.

Louise must have felt it too, because when dinner ended, Phil offered to get some mulled wine and take her on a walk in the park, but she smiled almost sadly at him and shook her head. “I don’t think this is going to work for us, Phil,” she sighed. “And I think you know it, too.”

“Yeah,” Phil agreed. “I mean, you’re great and I like you a lot, but I don’t think I like you in a romantic way.”

Louise chuckled. “I feel the same way. You’re an absolute dear, but it felt a lot like going on a date with Dan. He’s my best friend, and I love spending time with him, but I’d never date him.”

Phil bit his bottom lip and said, “Louise, would you like to go on a walk with me?”

Louise furrowed her brow. “Phil, I just–”

“I mean as friends,” Phil interrupted. “I really like talking to you, and I think I’d like talking to you even more if we weren’t on a date.”

Louise blinked at him for a moment, and Phil thought he might have seriously misjudged the situation, but her lips curled into a delighted smile. “Phil Lester, you have yourself a deal.”

Phil grinned and they walked together to a stand selling hot drinks, and Louise insisted on paying and Phil let her. They walked and talked and Phil listened to her complain about Darcy’s primary teachers, and in turn she listened to him talk about how much he was looking forward to the new Pokemon game.

Their conversation lulled as they sat together on a bench until Louise broke the silence. “I’m not sure if it’s appropriate for me to ask, but it definitely wasn’t appropriate for me to ask on our date, so I’m going for it now. What exactly happened with your soulmate?”

Phil self consciously rubbed his bicep. “It was about a week ago when I was on the tube. I dropped my wallet and someone noticed and they were apparently my soulmate. Unfortunately, it’s on my upper arm, so I didn’t notice until I got home that night.”

Louise clucked sympathetically. “Something similar happened with Dan. His mark is on the back of his neck, so he didn’t know it was there until I pointed it out to him the other day. He only just moved here, and before he lived alone, so he has no idea how long he’s had it there.”

“Well, how about you? What’s your soulmate situation?”

“Haven’t met them.”

“But Darcy–”

“Oh, Matt wasn’t my soulmate,” Louise cut in. “His soulmate is actually his little brother. He and I tried out the whole marriage thing, but it clearly didn’t work out.”

Phil nodded, and decided that he was done talking about soulmates and how disappointing they could be. “You said Dan just moved? What’s going on with him?”

“Oh, Dan’s great. He was living in Reading up until recently, but his previous flatmate moved out, so I convinced him to move to London,” Louise beamed. “He’s been job hunting, but nothing’s turned up for him yet, so he’s living with me and Darcy until he’s got everything situated.”

“Does he have any interest in working radio for the BBC?” Phil asked. “There’s some openings and I would be happy to give him a reference. They aren’t exactly glamorous, but they pay really well and it’s pretty easy to move up the ladder.”

Louise blinked at him in shock for a moment before she squealed in delight. “Phil Lester, you are an absolute _gem_ ,” she gushed, cupping his face in her hands and squishing her cheeks.

Phil grinned and happily accepted his cheek squishing. “Yeah, you already have my number so just give it to him and make sure he puts Phil Lester down as a professional contact.” He glared at her playfully. “He better be good, though. I don’t want to stand behind someone who’s going to make me look bad.”

“Don’t you worry one bit about that,” Louise assured. “That boy is a textbook perfectionist, so if he’s given a task, you can rest assured that it will be done well.”

They sat there talking for a while until Louise’s phone buzzed loudly in her pocket. She pulled it out and frowned. “Goodness, it really has gotten late. I think it’s best that we call it a night here, then.”

“All right,” Phil agreed easily. “Would you like me to walk you home?”

Louise shook her head. “I don’t think that will be necessary. I’ll be seeing you soon, Philip.”

Phil beamed. “I look forward to it.”

Louise smiled at him and then almost nervously bit her lower lip. “Good luck finding your soulmate, whoever they are.”

“Thanks.” Phil cleared his throat awkwardly and stuttered out, “Oh, uh, and, uh, tell Dan- tell Dan I said good luck with the job thing.”

“I will,” Louise nodded. She gave him one last parting smile as she lifted her hand in a wave and walked off. “Bye, Phil!”

Phil stood there, smiling and waving after her until she fully turned from him, and then he kept standing there, watching her with a small, satisfied smile. The date hadn’t exactly gone to plan, but Phil couldn’t imagine an ending he would have liked better.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*

A month and three different disaster dates later, Phil was still in the same boat as he was before. He and Louise kept up sporadic contact – she had excitedly texted him every step of Dan’s hiring process, ending with him being hired at the station a few days ago – but they hadn’t had time to actually meet up again. He’d gotten exactly zero legitimate hits on the soulmate matching sites, and every person he talked to on the non-soulmate sites somehow managed to be exponentially worse than the one before. He was about ready to call it quits, but PJ was determined to find his soulmate.

“Look, just do this one more thing, and then I promise I’ll let it go,” PJ swore.

Phil narrowed his eyes and continued setting up his radio booth. He was lucky that they pair before him was in another booth, and he had all the time in the world to get ready for his show. When he first started he just did one show a week late Saturday night, and the guy who hosted before him was always incredibly lethargic about getting his shit together and getting out. Now, he had a late afternoon/evening show that played Monday through Thursday, and he couldn’t be happier.

“Fine, I’ll give whatever your new plan is a shot, and when it doesn’t work, you have to _promise_ that you’ll never bring it up again. And you have to go through the hassle of deleting all those dating profiles.”

“Oh, come on. At least keep one dating profile. Dates are fun.”

Phil scowled. “PJ, the last guy I went on a date with told me he collected pigeons, and gave me a live one from his pocket that he’d caught earlier that day so I could start my own. Delete the profiles.”

“All right, all right.”

Phil sighed. “So, what is this brilliant Hail Mary you have up your sleeve? Gonna give me a sign and parade me around Piccadilly Circus?”  
  


“Er, not exactly. Look, you promised, so don’t freak out.”  
  


“Freak out? PJ, what are you–”

“Lester, glad I caught you before your show!” Marge boomed, bursting into the studio.

“Uh, me too? I guess?”

“I really like this idea you have for your show today,” she said earnestly. “I don’t want you to do it until the halfway point, though. Introduce it at the beginning and maybe get the hashtag going to get interest up, but don’t actually do it until act two. People are still expecting advice, and we’ve got to deliver. Got it?”

Phil furrowed his brow. “Uh, what idea exactly?”

“This whole thing about finding your soulmate!” she said, gesturing wildly with her tablet. “It’s all very dramatic and a shoe in to get some new listeners. You just keep building it up, and read out some Tweets from the hashtag. This is going to be a great show. Chin up, Lester!” And with that, she was gone.

Alone again, Phil wheeled around to face PJ with a dark scowl on his face. “I can’t believe you did that,” he hissed angrily. “You _know_ I don’t put my personal business on the radio. There’s not much that’s more personal than this!”

PJ put his hands up in a surrender gesture. “You’re right, I definitely crossed a line and I’m sorry. If I had been thinking straight I wouldn’t have done it in a million years, and you have every right to be mad at me. I do genuinely think this has a good chance of working though, so please give it a shot?”

“I damn well do have the right,” Phil snapped. “And, yeah, I’m going to give it a shot because I don’t have much of a choice, do I? Marge is expecting me to be looking for my soulmate, and now I have to do exactly that. She’s probably already got the social media person working on Twitter. What is the hashtag that I supposedly came up with, anyway?”

“Crossrail connections,” PJ said. “People are just going to be sending in their own missed connection stories and such.”

Phil sighed and a tech person came in to do some final checks on everything, meaning it was time for PJ to get out. “I’ll talk to you after the show,” he said firmly. “I don’t care if I do find my soulmate, you owe me big for this.” PJ nodded meekly and scurried out of the room with his metaphorical tail between his legs. Phil took a deep, calming breath and got into the persona of AmazingPhil, advice radio extraordinaire. To practice, he shot a charming grin at the tech who just raised an eyebrow and refocused, causing Phil to giggle a bit. The tech was definitely new – Phil knew just about everyone who worked this shift – but there was something naggingly familiar about those brown curls.

“Lester, you’re on in thirty,” Marge said over the intercom. “Howell, time’s up. If anything needs to be done, we’ll do it during a song. Get out.” The tech nodded quickly, and scurried out the door faster than Phil had ever seen anyone move. He gave Marge a big thumbs up through the glass which she returned and the tech appeared at her side and started the finger countdown from 10.

“That was ‘What Lovers Do’ by Maroon 5 featuring SZA. I’m in the studio live, and you are now listening to, and hopefully watching, AmazingPhil on BBC Radio One!” Phil recited, already feeling his blood start to pump with excitement like it always did. He grinned and paused for a moment while the recorded man said _One. BBC Radio One_. “Hey, guys! It is a weekday at four in the afternoon, which means it is, once again time for Amazing Advice with AmazingPhil. In case you haven’t guessed, I am AmazingPhil and normally every day I help you all with whatever problems are in your life, but for the next two hours, we’re going to do something a little bit different.

“That’s right, you guys, today is all about soulmates. We’re going to talk about missed connections, worries about ever finding your soulmate, and what are you even supposed to do when you find them! We have a hashtag going on Twitter, so if you want your Tweet read out, be sure to tag it with ‘hashtag crossroad connections.’ If you’d like to call in our number is 03700 100 342.” He glanced up at Marge who was gesturing expectantly, and he sighed in his head. “But that’s all usual stuff. What makes today different is that today, you guys are going to get the chance to help _me_. That’s right, I actually had a missed connection with my soulmate, and in one hour I’m going to give you guys the details, so stick around! You can watch all of this unfold on BBC dot co dot UK forward slash radio one where you will see that I have actually sprouted cupid wings in honor of this episode. Now, here’s ‘New Rules’ by Dua Lipa.” He flipped a switch, pulled his headphones down, and let out a satisfied sigh and gave the camera a big cheesy grin. Two minutes down, 118 more to go.

The first hour passed fairly normally – Phil read some Tweets, played some songs, and might have accidentally advised a woman to leave her husband of five years because she met her soulmate in another young lady taking the same pottery class as her – other than the hashtag being almost too full of people wildly speculating about what exactly happened with Phil’s soulmate to find any Tweets they could actually use. One theory Phil found particularly amusing was that he had run into Queen Elizabeth somehow and they were soulmates and he was about to declare his quite literal love for queen and country on air.

He was about to go back on air from a song break when he realized his headphones weren’t working. He quickly grabbed the spare set and frantically gestured for the tech to get in there and fix them. He watched as Howell scrambled into action, grabbed a tool bag and silently went to work on the headphones while Phil turned his attention back to the camera.

“That was ‘Ready for It’ by Taylor Swift, which is rather appropriate, because I need to know if you all are ready for it,” Phil said with comical flair when the song ended. “Yes, it’s been an hour and I’ve been teasing you this whole whole way through, but the time has come. I’m going to tell you my hashtag crossroad connection.” Phil played the dramatic gong noise and the tech had to stifle a laugh. Phil cast him a small smile, then shook his head and went back to the show. “You’ve all been waiting, so here it is.

“My words are… ‘I wonder if that guy knows he dropped his wallet.’” He paused a moment to play the booing noises himself, but made a placating gesture. “Yes, I know. I was a little disappointed about the lack of romance too, trust me. Anyway, about a month ago, I was on the tube home, and I was with my friend and when we got to his stop I handed him some money to buy me a cupcake the next day. I went to put it away and happened to drop my wallet, and apparently my soulmate noticed. So, if you or a friend with really bad handwriting were riding the tube a month ago and rem–”

There was a small crash and Phil jerked his head around to see Howell gaping at him in shock, and suddenly it all clicked into place. The awkward posture, the curly hair, the sparkly brown eyes, everything. It was the guy who had returned his wallet to him. Howell seemed frozen like a deer in headlights for a moment before he turned heel and fled. As he retreated, Phil managed to see some very familiar script written across the back of his neck.

There was a quiet thump and Phil turned again to see Marge on the other side of the glass gesturing almost angrily for him to get the show started again. “Oh, uh, right. So, if you’re my soulmate, or you think you know someone who might be my soulmate, either call in at 03700 100 342 or Tweet using the hashtag crossroad connections. We have a caller coming in. Flint, what soulmate problems are troubling you this wonderful December afternoon?”

Phil went through the motions of the remaining hour of the show. He continued to dole out advice, and he listened to three different teenage girls claim that they were his soulmate. He just gritted his teeth through it, and he’d never been so happy to see Marge make the wrap it up gesture when all was said and done.

“Thank you all so much for joining me here today. As always, it’s been wonderful spending time with you, and I hope you got as much out of it as I did,” Phil beamed. “Thank you for sending in your Tweets and calls about your soulmate problems and advice for me. Up next is Newsbeat to give you all the worldly updates you’ll need. I’ll be back tomorrow, but until then I’m leaving you with my favorite song this week. I’m talking about Portugal. The Man with ‘Feel It Still.’ Bye, guys!”

Almost before he was off air, Marge blew into the room like a hurricane to give him a rundown. “Alright, that was one of your best shows yet,” she said, scrolling and looking at figures on her tablet. We actually got the hashtag trending in the UK, which we don’t manage very often, and there was a huge spike on the website when you talked about your own soulmate experience. We may have to do something like this again, but not very often. Almost everyone likes hearing about soulmates, but we don’t want this to become just a soulmates show.”

“Great, great,” Phil muttered, distracted. “Hey, who was that tech working the show today?”  
  


Marge frowned. “New kid named Daniel Howell. Why?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re not going to get onto him about the thing with the headset, are you? It’s his first day and we all make mistakes. I don’t know what kind of look you gave him earlier, but he’s run off and didn’t come back for the entire show. It would do you good to remember your first couple months on tech when you started here.”

“Oh, no, no, no, that’s not it at all,” Phil assured her. Marge was kind and smart, but sometimes things went way above her head. “I’m pretty sure he’s my soulmate, and he figured it out too which is why he left in a hurry.”

Marge blinked at him for a minute with a furrowed brow before her eyes lit up in understanding. “Oh my god. _He’s_ your soulmate? This is amazing! What are you waiting for? Go find him! Beat it!”

Phil laughed as she flapped her arms to usher him out of the studio. He gave her a quick salute and cheerfully said, “Bye, Marge! See you tomorrow!” before he was tearing down the hall. He knew from his own time on tech that Dan wouldn’t have gotten away with loitering without an assignment for long, and if anyone knew where he’d be it was Matt. Matt worked as head tech and he was the one responsible for making sure the station ran as smoothly as it did.

“Matt! There you are!” Phil gasped, running to catch up with him.

Matt raised an eyebrow. “Uh, hey, Phil. What can I do for you?”

“I’m looking for someone,” Phil started without further preamble. “Do you know where Dan Howell is?”

Matt furrowed his brow and started scrolling on his table. “Howell… Howell… Howell…” he muttered to himself. Then he looked up with a grin and snapped his fingers. “Dan! You mean the guy who started here today!”  
  


“Yes, him!” Phil beamed. “Is he in there?”

“Unfortunately, he’s not in the system yet, but I remember giving him something to do,” Matt nodded. “He looked really shaken up – I’m guessing first day nerves – so I sent him to the basement to organize the spare wires boxes. I was going to do it myself, but he looked like he needed something simple and away from people.”

“Thanks, mate, you’re a lifesaver,” Phil grinned, then turned on his heel and ran to the basement. Sure enough, when he got down there, Dan Howell was sitting on the floor surrounded by carefully laid out piles of wires. He had two in his hands, comparing the ends before he untangled one from the Gordian Knot of cords and laid it with the others. Phil carefully rapped on the heavy wooden door to get his attention. He jerked and whipped his head around to look at Phil with wide brown eyes. “Hi, uh, so, I’m Phil.”

“I, uh, yeah, I know,” Dan stuttered. “I was kind of there when you introduced yourself live on radio. I’m Dan.”

“I know, I asked Marge after the show.”

“So, that’s her name. I’m kind of terrible with names and forgot.”

“Same. I called her Maggie about twelve times my first month here.” Dan chuckled before silence fell over the room. Phil cleared his throat. “Okay, so let’s get to the point–”

“You think I’m your soulmate,” Dan finished, turning his attention back to the wires in front of him.

Phil blinked at the phrasing. “Don’t you?”

“Things don’t work out like that for me, Phil,” Dan huffed. “That’s Hallmark Channel stuff, not real life. I don’t have my life together enough for anything like that to happen to me. Hell, I only got this job because my friend went on a lousy date with a stranger and the guy out of nowhere just offered to give me a professional recommendation.”

“Louise?” Phil asked eagerly. “Louise Pentland? Is that who you’re talking about?”

“Yeah? You know Louise?”

“Yeah! I was the lousy date who gave you the recommendation!” He thought over what he’d just said and frowned. “Did she really think it was lousy?”

Dan rolled his eyes. “No, she had a lot of fun, I promise. But you have to admit that any date that ends with you being solidly in a platonic relationship is pretty lousy romance wise.”

Phil shrugged. “I guess you have a point. But, Dan, look! It’s fate! We’re definitely soulmates.”

“What, because you were a weirdo who offered a desperate stranger a job? That’s not how that works.”

Phil huffed and folded his arms. “No, but out of all the people in London I could have gone on a date with, it happened to be your friend and roommate. Then we happened to get along well enough for us to talk about you and she actually did get you to use my recommendation. Then, you did wind up getting the job, and not only were you assigned to my show, your first day was the day I was talking about my soulmate, which, by the way, wasn’t my idea in the first place.”

“Just a lot of coincidences,” Dan muttered, staring at the same wire he’d been holding for a minute now.

“Look, will you just look and see if it’s your damn handwriting?” Phil snapped.

“And what if it isn’t?” Dan shot right back, finally meeting Phil’s eyes again. “What if I do take a look and it turns out that it’s not my handwriting? It was a crowded car, maybe someone else with shitty handwriting saw you drop your wallet. What exactly are you going to do if you hike your sleeve up and you find out you’ve gotten yourself all worked up and excited only to realize that I’m _not_ the person you want?” He shot a hot glare at Phil and went back to his task, but Phil noticed the slight tremor in his long fingers.

Phil bit his lower lip and sat down, carefully avoiding Dan’s wire piles. “Well, I’d be a bit disappointed, obviously,” he said with a false casual air. He watched Dan flinch almost imperceptibly, and lowered his head until he met Dan’s gaze to offer him a gentle smile. “And then I’d offer to help you sort wires as an apology for bothering you.” Dan lifted his head, forehead crumpled in confusion, and Phil had to bite his tongue to keep from commenting on how cute it was. “Yeah, I remember working as a tech, and wire duty isn’t any fun, but it’s definitely more bearable with a friend.” He paused in thought before deciding to add, “And maybe if we really got along, I’d invite you for drinks after.”

Dan sputtered and a pretty pink blush bloomed on his round cheeks. He choked on air for a moment before he cleared his throat and gave Phil a small smile. “I may take you up on the wire thing.”

Phil grinned at him. “And the drinks?”

“We’ll just have to see about that.”

They sat there talking and sorting wires for the better part of an hour. Phil was thrilled to learn that they shared almost all the same interests, while still having individual passions of their own. He had particularly enjoyed the part where he accidentally mentioned Kanye and Dan gushed about him for a solid five minutes. It wasn’t until they were almost done that Dan looked at him and asked the million dollar question. “Why is this soulmate thing so important to you, anyway?”

Phil frowned down at the wire in his hands and thought hard for a minute. “I… I don’t really know. I get that’s not really an answer, but it’s the truth. I know soulmates aren’t the end all be all of everything – my parents are actually both missed connections and they’re the happiest people I know – but when I thought that maybe you were my soulmate I got stupidly excited about it. I wasn’t even that interested in finding my soulmate before this.”

“You just went on a manhunt on live radio looking for them.”

“That wasn’t my idea, it was PJ’s,” he shrugged. He heaved a deep sigh and locked eyes with Dan. “Look, I want you to be my soulmate – like _really_ want you to be my soulmate – but I would and do like you if you aren’t. If you aren’t into this 100% like I am then I’m not about to force you. Right now I feel perfectly confident saying that I’d be happy spending the rest of my life with you without even looking at my soulmark again. And I know that sounds crazy, and it honestly terrifies me, and maybe it’s just the adrenaline talking, but right now I mean it totally and completely.” He took a deep, calming breath and stood, offering Dan a smile an outstretched hand. “So, that’s me. Everything’s out, so I have one more thing to say. Dan, would you like to go on a date with me under the assumption that we’re not soulmates?”

Dan gave the hand a wary look then turned that look on Phil. “You aren’t allowed to look at my mark, either. If I find out you did, I’ll never speak to you again, soulmates or not,” he warned.

“The thought never even crossed my mind.”

Dan grinned up at him and took the hand. “Then, Phil Lester, you have yourself a deal and a date.”


End file.
